Muslims at UC Davis defend imam's call to 'annihilate' 'filthy Jews'

The ugly hatred the Koran instructs faithful Muslims to practice against Jews is on display and being defended at the Islamic Center of the University of California, Davis. A sermon delivered by Imam Ammar Shahin was posted on YouTube and from there reached a wider audience when MEMRI posted excerpts, with translation of the portions in Arabic.

His hateful rhetoric is now being defended, rather comically, as Breitbart reports:

In a statement issued Tuesday morning, and e-mailed to Breitbart News, the mosque claimed that Shahin's sermon was quoted out of context, and lashed out against "Islamophobic news organizations."

It claimed that the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) had mis-translated Shahin's prayer, and that he prayed that Allah "destroy" rather than "annihilate" the Jews responsible for temporarily closing access to the Al-Aqsa mosque (after a terror attack).

The word "destroy," the mosque claimed, was not a call to violence but merely a "supplication that is generally used against oppressors."

If you accept the notion that context can explain away "filthy Jews" and "annihilate" (or "destroy") them all, feel free to spend the next hour of your life watching the entire sermon:

The local paper, the Davis Enterprise, reports on further rationalizations being offered:

"It was clear to all who listened to the entire sermon that Imam Shahin was not calling towards anti-Semitism nor towards violence against any religion," Shahin and the Islamic Center's executive board said in a written statement released Tuesday morning.

"Rather, he is known for his stance against extremism and his condemnation of un-Islamic groups which promote such views."

Later Tuesday, the Islamic Center released a second, more conciliatory statement apologizing to those who were offended by the sermon and pledging to hold an interfaith town-hall meeting "in the near future."

"The ICD will always stand against anti-Semitism similarly to how the Jewish community has always stood against Islamophobia in our close knit community. We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or any other form of bigotry."

The problem is that the mosque cannot repudiate religious hatred without repudiating the literal words of Allah, as faithfully recorded by Mohammed, as all faithful Muslims believe. There is no way out of this dilemma unless a reformation takes hold within Islam, something difficult in a faith based on believing that every word in the Koran is not just divinely inspired, but the literal word of Allah.

The imam is doing a public service by exposing the nature of Islam.

The ugly hatred the Koran instructs faithful Muslims to practice against Jews is on display and being defended at the Islamic Center of the University of California, Davis. A sermon delivered by Imam Ammar Shahin was posted on YouTube and from there reached a wider audience when MEMRI posted excerpts, with translation of the portions in Arabic.

His hateful rhetoric is now being defended, rather comically, as Breitbart reports:

In a statement issued Tuesday morning, and e-mailed to Breitbart News, the mosque claimed that Shahin's sermon was quoted out of context, and lashed out against "Islamophobic news organizations."

It claimed that the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) had mis-translated Shahin's prayer, and that he prayed that Allah "destroy" rather than "annihilate" the Jews responsible for temporarily closing access to the Al-Aqsa mosque (after a terror attack).

The word "destroy," the mosque claimed, was not a call to violence but merely a "supplication that is generally used against oppressors."

If you accept the notion that context can explain away "filthy Jews" and "annihilate" (or "destroy") them all, feel free to spend the next hour of your life watching the entire sermon:

The local paper, the Davis Enterprise, reports on further rationalizations being offered:

"It was clear to all who listened to the entire sermon that Imam Shahin was not calling towards anti-Semitism nor towards violence against any religion," Shahin and the Islamic Center's executive board said in a written statement released Tuesday morning.

"Rather, he is known for his stance against extremism and his condemnation of un-Islamic groups which promote such views."

Later Tuesday, the Islamic Center released a second, more conciliatory statement apologizing to those who were offended by the sermon and pledging to hold an interfaith town-hall meeting "in the near future."

"The ICD will always stand against anti-Semitism similarly to how the Jewish community has always stood against Islamophobia in our close knit community. We have zero tolerance for anti-Semitism or any other form of bigotry."

The problem is that the mosque cannot repudiate religious hatred without repudiating the literal words of Allah, as faithfully recorded by Mohammed, as all faithful Muslims believe. There is no way out of this dilemma unless a reformation takes hold within Islam, something difficult in a faith based on believing that every word in the Koran is not just divinely inspired, but the literal word of Allah.